PROVO, Utah — No. 24 BYU heads north to Logan, Utah, to take on conference rival Utah State on Friday night in the Aggies’ annual Breast Cancer Awareness Pink Meet before traveling to Corvallis, Oregon, to face No. 8 Oregon State on Monday.
"This is a longer weekend for us, so we've been preparing all week,” head coach Guard Young said. "We get to have a great, aggressive start with our bar lineup, and we end on beam, so we've got to be able to focus and stay mindful of where we're at and what we're doing."
The Cougars will again wear the pink leotards at USU after they debuted them last week in their home Pink Meet against Boise State. In that meet last Friday night, BYU took down the Broncos, 196.225 to 196.175, with three BYU gymnasts earning Mountain Rim Gymnastics Conference Specialists of the Week honors. Angel Zhong matched her career-high on vault with a 9.850. Shannon Hortman Evans and Kyleigh Greenlief both set new career records that night; Evans with a 9.900 on bars and Greenlief with the highest score of the night, a 9.950 on floor.
Utah State recorded a season-high road score of 195.325 last Friday against Denver, Michigan and Bowling Green. Freshman Mikaela Meyer was named one of the MRGC Vault Specialists of the Week after earning a 9.850 on the event. Another Aggie freshman, Autumn DeHarde, placed first on floor at the meet after matching her career-high 9.925.
Oregon State posted a second season-high road score against UCLA on Sunday, 196.525, as the Beavers exceeded the 49-point mark on all four events. Sophomore Isis Lowery and freshman Kaitlyn Yanish both earned a 9.900 on floor, confirming Oregon State's sixth-place national ranking on the event.
The Cougars will host a fireside while in Oregon on Sunday night. The fireside will be held at 7 p.m. at a LDS Church building in Albany, Oregon. Attendance will be open to the public.
"These firesides are an awesome experience for the girls to give a message to the youth in the area," Young said. "I find it so rewarding to hear the stories of these girls and their trials and everything they struggle with. It really puts things into perspective and reminds me why we're doing all of this."
The national rankings switched to regional qualifying scores (RQS) this weekend, ranking teams by the top six scores instead of overall season average. The top six scores are determined by the three highest away and home scores, putting the Cougars at a No. 24 national ranking.
The meet on Friday starts at 7 p.m. in the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah. Live streaming and live stats will be available. The Oregon State meet will be held on Monday, March 5 at 7 p.m. PT/8 p.m. MST, at Gill Coliseum. Live streaming and live stats will be available.